Key Messages
Build Your People Skills And Increase Your Emotional Intelligence For Career Success
If you want to reach success in the modern workplace, then it’s important that you strengthen your emotional intelligence (EQ).
EQ is what allows you to develop strong relationships with both yourself and others.
It’s also essential for managing stress and succeeding in work and in life.
That being said, luckily there are ways to boost your EQ.
For instance, getting to know your coworkers on a personal level – like their nickname – can help build trust and closer relationships.
You can also practice embracing criticisms and public shaming to help push forward projects or ideas.
Furthermore, taking note of mannerisms or body language when meeting new people gives valuable insight into their character.
By taking these steps as outlined in Emotional Intelligence 2.0, honing your emotional intelligence will allow you to maximize potential results at work, create stronger bonds with coworkers and customers alike, and even lead a more successful life overall!
The 4 Elements Of Emotional Intelligence: Self Awareness, Self Management, Social Awareness And Relationship Management
Emotional intelligence is all about understanding yourself and your emotions, as well as the emotions of others.
It combines four elements: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
Self-awareness is about being aware of your own feelings and behaviors – understanding what you are feeling, why it’s happening and knowing how it may affect those around you.
Self-management enables you to calmly respond to situations in which you know that you’ll be able to behave correctly.
Social awareness allows for a greater understanding of the feelings of others, as well as what motivates them or causes them stress.
Finally, relationship management enables you to create stronger bonds by empathizing with those around you.
In short: know yourself; behave yourself; know others; build bonds.
That’s emotional intelligence!
Self-Awareness Helps Us Make Smarter Decisions On Good And Bad Days Alike
One key to improving your self-awareness is to go beyond simply recognizing your likes and dislikes.
To truly understand yourself, you must dig deeper into why you feel the way you do – whether it be angry, annoyed or something else.
Take a step back from the situation and ask yourself “why am I feeling this way?” This will help you look at the issue objectively so that it doesn’t become overwhelming.
Getting to know yourself means understanding both the good and bad in order to make smarter decisions.
For instance, if something has put you in a sour mood, remind yourself that such feelings come and go, and don’t overreact.
On the other hand, enjoy your good moments but don’t let euphoria overpower your judgement – think twice before making a decision while vastly excited.
The Power Of Emotion Versus Reason To Improve Self-Management
To practice better self-management, it’s important to recognize the dynamic between your emotions and logic.
When faced with a tough decision, you should try to assess both sides for an even balance.
This is where the emotion versus reason list comes in.
You simply divide a page into two columns and decide whether something should be done based on your emotions or reasoning.
Consider what each list has to offer, ask yourself if your emotions are clouding your judgment, and look for any holes in your logic.
Another way to manage self is by holding yourself accountable with help from friends and family.
Tell them what you’d like to accomplish so that they can hold you accountable and provide extra motivation when it’s needed.
One professor used this strategy so well that he promised his colleagues $100 every time he missed a deadline!
This goes to show how powerful the motivation of loved ones can be for improving our own emotional intelligence skills.
How To Develop A High Level Of Social Intelligence
When it comes to emotional intelligence, reading people’s body language is key.
You can learn a lot about what someone is feeling just by observing their eyes, mouth, and shoulders.
Their movements give away subtle responses that let you know how to address them correctly.
Start off with assessing the eyes – too much squinting might be an indication of deception.
The mouth is also important – real smiles will come across as more sympathetic while fake ones can seem overly rehearsed or forced.
Lastly, observe the person’s shoulder movements – slumped shoulders could signify fatigue or shyness while tight shoulders may point to self-assurance or stress.
Once you make an assessment based on the body language, respond accordingly.
It might not be the best time to ask questions if the person looks angry, so wait until he seems in a better state of mind before approaching him.
Additionally, greet him by his name wherever possible; using his real name will strengthen your connection and demonstrate your trustworthiness and warmth towards him even further.
People with high social awareness usually bother learning people’s first names for this purpose alone – it can tell you a lot about someone’s identity and family background depending on their nickname or full title.
Getting Feedback Is Crucial To Building And Maintaining Strong Relationships
When it comes to building strong relationships, one of the most important things to remember is to make sure your body language matches your words.
Don’t send out mixed signals at all.
Even if you’re busy and overwhelmed, keep an eye on what your body is saying—it could be sending confusing messages that conflict with what you’re actually saying.
For example, if you need to give a speech congratulating employees for good performance but are feeling upset from a fight with your wife earlier that morning, you don’t want to mumble through the speech with a frown—not only will it not be effective in communicating your message, it’ll leave people feeling frustrated and confused about your true intentions.
Take time to check in with yourself and make sure that your body language matches up with the message you’re sending in order to avoid any kind of miscommunication or uncertainty.
It’s infinitely better than leaving room for doubt or misinterpretation!
Wrap Up
In the end, it all comes down to this – increase your level of emotional intelligence, or EQ.
You achieve this by understanding and controlling your own emotions and behaviors first, then investing in relationships with others by paying attention to body language and addressing people in a personal way.
It’s not easy, but if you manage to balance your emotions with rational thinking and never stop trying to improve yourself with feedback, you’ll gain high emotional intelligence which will help you both relate better to others as well as manage yourself better.
As a final summary, an important component of having a high EQ is actively listening to what other people have to say.
Being able to read other’s thoughts can give insight into their minds and show that you care about them.
So commit yourself to consciously listen when someone is talking – it’ll pay dividends for all involved!
